This project will acquire a 2-acre shoreline property in the City of Port Angeles for the purpose of estuary and nearshore protection and restoration for habitat, ecosystem function, and environmental education. The property includes .3 mi. of urban, heavily
armored shoreline adjacent to the Valley Creek Estuary, the site of an estuary restoration project completed in 1998. Acquiring this property would give project partners the opportunity to further existing restoration efforts and preserve the site as a public park.
'The Valley Creek watershed is 2.4 mi2 in size, with headwaters in the lower foothills at the northern boundary of Olympic National Park' (Economic and Engineering Services, Inc. 1996). 'Sixty percent of the watershed is in urban land use, with 50% of that land in impervious surface' (TetraTech 1988). 'Valley Creek has been significantly altered to accommodate urban and industrial development in Port Angeles, and is heavily impacted by stormwater runoff from the urban and industrial development. The level of habitat degradation has been great enough to extirpate all salmonid species except for cutthroat trout. Ironically, with the construction of an engineered 1.5 acre estuary in 1998, Valley Creek is now the primary focus of restoration efforts within the urban streams of Port Angeles. A conceptual restoration plan for the watershed has been developed' (McHenry and Odenweller 1998).
This project will expand Valley Creek's Estuary habitat and improve ecosystem function.
Acquiring this property would fulfill NOPLE's goal to instill public awareness about salmon recovery because of its central location. Humans and the community of Port Angeles are also a part if this ecosystem and this project is congruous with the Port Angeles Shoreline plan which states, "Improvements of the waterfront area would strengthen the vitality of the Central Business District, and the city, create public amenity for local residents and create a positive image of this country…"